What do most college programs do regarding the Christmas break? Once school is out in mid December are the students/players free to go home? Does coach keep them for a few days to work out? Most colleges close their dorms so I assume go home.
When do they come back from break? Assume college resumes around MLK day, do they report back early? How early.
For those of you who have been through this with your kids or coaches out there, thanks.
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Yes, everyone goes home at the end of exam period, and players (although I'm mostly familiar with pitchers) continue their preparation for the spring season over the holiday break. In the Northeast, the pre-season starts with travel down south in mid-February, so pitchers are definitely starting to throw after Thanksgiving. My player would shut down from early October to Thanksgiving and then ramp up to speed by mid-February. The team would return about 10 days early to campus for regular workouts. Southern players probably have a different schedule though.
Most players also have a regular workout facility for times when they are home or out of season. Your HS player probably knows where the college guys and minor leaguers work out. If not, ask around the travel team circuit and someone will point to the right place . . . since these places cater to young college and early pro players, in my experience, they are not overly expensive. Beware the places that just give expensive lessons.
Finally, my player always pays for workout plans from his favorite trainer over breaks. Yes, they are probably between $100-150 every 8 weeks, but he believes that a customized plan is totally worth it. Now, some college trainers do provide their players with these plans; however, if the trainer also works with the football team (which is often the case at schools with smaller programs), then these plans might not work as well for pitchers simply because there is too much emphasis on biceps, etc. I'm not sure if position players have custom plans, but someone on this board will definitely know.
Maybe more info than you asked for, @Brensdad, but I hope some of it is helpful.
In my experience, their breaks are same as regular students since the NCAA rules regulate how many hours they can practice as a team.
If you are inquiring about winter break dates for a specific school, you can look for the college academic calendar at the school's website. The breaks are not the same at all schools. I am pretty sure son went back the day before classes started and came home as soon as exams were over (although he did work out when home during the break).
Players will return after Thanksgiving for exams and are allowed use of the facilities until the break.
D1 pitchers are given a throwing schedule and expected to be ready by the time they return for spring practice (January). I think that at FL all players have access 24 hours to facilities.
I am assuming that individual practice schedules are given to all players.
I agree with @keewart, refer to the school's academic calendar.
If the student is in dorms, the dorms will close. D3s have a specific number of practice days with coaches allowed, but the coaches can schedule those however they choose before the start of the season (i.e. in the fall, winter, etc.). At my son's D3, some years they came back 7-10 days early from winter break and were allowed into the dorms (I think it was most winter and spring athletes), some years they didn't come back early.
Regardless, players are certainly expected to keep up with their training over break on their own, especially pitchers who are on a ramp-up schedule.
How old is your kid? His teammates should have a facility referral if he doesn't have one already. Like others have stated once on winter break he will be responsible for his SC and bb related training. The facilities in my region offer "training specials" for college students.
My son's last exam is Dec 14th and he is headed out Dec 15th. He is going back to school on Jan 8th.
My son flew back to school yesterday. This week is supposed to be his last week of classes and next week is exams. All his exams are online so he was planning to drive back home again this Fri as soon as his classes are done. He started getting emails from some professors during the weekend that they are either canceling classes or making it online this week. He could probably have gotten away with driving home last weekend for thanksgiving and not go back to school until after Christmas break but we didn't want to risk him missing classes esp considering he's just a freshman.
He drives back on Jan 7. Classes starts Jan 8 I believe.
Edited to add that he plans to practice and workout at his HS baseball facility during the break.
